[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 45 (Friday, March 6, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13189-13190]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-04583]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Mine Safety and Health Administration
[OMB Control No. 1219-0003]
Proposed Extension of Information Collection; Radiation Sampling
and Exposure Records
AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health Administration, Labor.
ACTION: Request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies
with an opportunity to comment on proposed collections of information
in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This program
helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired
format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized,
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of
collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed.
Currently, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is
soliciting comments on the information collection for Radiation
Sampling and Exposure Records.
DATES: All comments must be received on or before May 5, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comment as follows. Please note that late,
untimely filed comments will not be considered.
Electronic Submissions: Submit electronic comments in the following
way:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments for docket number MSHA-
2020-0006. Comments submitted electronically, including attachments, to
https://www.regulations.gov will be posted to the docket, with no
changes. Because your comment will be made public, you are responsible
for ensuring that your comment does not include any confidential
information that you or a third party may not wish to be posted, such
as your or anyone else's Social Security number or confidential
business information.
If you want to submit a comment with confidential
information that you do not wish to be made available to the public,
submit the comment as a written/paper submission.
Written/Paper Submissions: Submit written/paper submissions in the
following way:
Mail/Hand Delivery: Mail or visit DOL-MSHA, Office of
Standards, Regulations, and Variances, 201 12th Street South, Suite
4E401, Arlington, VA 22202-5452.
MSHA will post your comment as well as any attachments,
except for information submitted and marked as confidential, in the
docket at https://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sheila McConnell, Director, Office of
Standards, Regulations, and Variances, MSHA, at
[email protected] (email); (202) 693-9440 (voice);
or (202) 693-9441 (facsimile).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Section 103(h) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977
(Mine Act), 30 U.S.C. 813(h), authorizes MSHA to collect information
necessary to carry out its duty in protecting the safety and health of
miners. Further, section 101(a) of the Mine Act, 30 U.S.C. 811,
authorizes the Secretary of Labor to develop, promulgate, and revise as
may be appropriate, improved mandatory health or safety standards for
the protection of life and prevention of injuries in coal and metal and
nonmetal mines.
Under the authority of Section 103 of the Federal Mine Safety and
Health Act of 1977, MSHA is required to issue regulations requiring
operators to maintain accurate records of employee exposures to
potentially toxic materials or harmful physical agents which are
required to be monitored or measured under any applicable mandatory
health or safety standard promulgated under this Act.
Airborne radon and radon daughters exist in every uranium mine and
in several other underground mining commodities. Radon is radioactive
gas. It diffuses into the underground mine atmosphere through the rock
and the ground water. Radon decays in a series of steps into other
radioactive elements, which are solids, called radon daughters. Radon
and radon daughters are invisible and odorless. Decay of radon and its
daughters results in emissions of alpha energy.
Medical doctors and scientists have associated high radon daughter
exposures with lung cancer. The health hazard arises from breathing air
contaminated with radon daughters which are in turn deposited in the
lungs. The lung tissues are sensitive to alpha radioactivity.
The amounts of airborne radon daughters to which most miners can be
exposed with no adverse effects have been established and are expressed
as working levels (WL). The current MSHA standard is a maximum personal
exposure of 4 working level months per year.
Excess lung cancer in uranium miners, just as coal workers'
pneumoconiosis, silicosis, and other debilitating occupational
diseases, has been recognized for many years. Thus, an adequate base of
accurate exposure level data is essential to control miners' exposures
and permit an evaluation of the effectiveness of existing regulations.
The standard at 30 CFR 57.5037 established the procedures to be
used by the mine operator in sampling mine air for the presence and
concentrations of radon daughters. Operators are required to conduct
weekly sampling where concentrations of radon daughters exceed 0.3 WL.
Sampling is required bi-weekly where uranium mines have readings of 0.1
WL to 0.3 WL and every 3 months in non-uranium underground mines where
the readings are 0.1 WL to 0.3 WL. Mine operators are required to keep
records of all mandatory samplings. Records must include the sample
date, location, and results, and must be retained at the mine site or
nearest mine office for at least 2 years.
The standard at 30 CFR 57.5040 requires mine operators to calculate
and record individual exposures to radon daughters on MSHA Form 4000-9
``Record of Individual Exposure to Radon Daughters.'' The calculations
are based on the results of the weekly sampling required by 30 CFR
57.5037. Records must be maintained by the operator and submitted to
MSHA annually.
II. Desired Focus of Comments
MSHA is soliciting comments concerning the proposed information
collection related to Radiation Sampling and Exposure Records. MSHA is
particularly interested in comments that:
Evaluate whether the collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Agency,
including whether the information has practical utility;
Evaluate the accuracy of MSHA's estimate of the burden of
the collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
[[Page 13190]]
Suggest methods to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be collected; and
Minimize the burden of the collection of information on
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submission of responses.
Background documents related to this information collection request
are available at https://regulations.gov and in DOL-MSHA located at 201
12th Street South, Suite 4E401, Arlington, VA 22202-5452. Questions
about the information collection requirements may be directed to the
person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION section of this notice
from the previous collection of information.
III. Current Actions
This information collection request concerns provisions for
Radiation Sampling and Exposure Records. MSHA has updated the data with
respect to the number of respondents, responses, burden hours, and
burden costs supporting this information collection request from the
previous information collection request.
Type of Review: Extension, without change, of a currently approved
collection.
Agency: Mine Safety and Health Administration.
OMB Number: 1219-0003.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
Number of Respondents: 4.
Frequency: On occasion.
Number of Responses: 404.
Annual Burden Hours: 402 hours.
Annual Respondent or Recordkeeper Cost: $20.
MSHA Form: MSHA Form 4000-9, Record of Individual Exposure to Radon
Daughters.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized in
the request for Office of Management and Budget approval of the
proposed information collection request; they will become a matter of
public record and will be available at https://www.reginfo.gov.
Sheila McConnell,
Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020-04583 Filed 3-5-20; 8:45 am]
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